PRWID Explains Inconvenience Created by Sewer Line Expansions

Kitty Feichko watches as crews dig a trench to put a sewer line in front of her driveway on 750 North. Some residents have been concerned about the disruptions and seemingly slow progress of some of the sewer projects that are being installed this year. PRWID officials say they have tried to keep access to peoples homes open as much as they could under the conditions in the various geographical locations where the work is being performed.

Many residents of the areas where new sewer lines are being installed in Carbonville have been waiting for years for the service to be available to them. Most are excited about the prospects of doing away with septic systems and hooking up to Price River Water Improvement District's lines.

However, a few are having a difficult time justifying the new system with the inconvenience the construction has caused them. Some have complained about the amount of time it has taken in some areas to do the installation, while others are concerned about what is happening in areas where the line has been finished for some time, yet the pavement has not been repaired. And a few are very upset about the open trenches and restricted access to their homes in at least one area.

The side effects of construction are often inconvenient and sometimes troubling for people. Open trenches and holes in front of driveways keep them from coming and going as they normally would. Some have had to park vehicles at the end of a road and walk to their residences for an afternoon or even for a day.

"This morning my daughter took my other daughter to school and she had to get the contractor to move their equipment out of the way so she could get through," stated Kitty Feichko on Tuesday afternoon. "This afternoon when she came home she couldn't get through at all. She had to park at the bottom of the lane and walk up."

For Feichko, this wasn't the first irritation the sewer project has caused her. Last week when the main line was put in, the lane she lives on was torn up all week. While on most days she could get through, she pointed out that one night a trench was left open and there was little room left to get by it.

Last Thursday, Feichko said she was upset when the crews dug right in front of her home and it took all day and into the evening before she could get into her driveway.

But PRWID assistant district manager Jeff Richens said that, unfortunately, is part of putting in the new line and that the district had contacted residents and let them know what was going to happen.

"We began digging on 750 North on Monday of last week," he said. "Things went fairly good until Wednesday when the crews snagged a water line and we had to leave the trench open to let it dry out over night before we could finish in that area."

Richens said that the contractor had had several conversations with Feichko but that they had not seemed to be able to resolve the problems that she had with the construction work.

"When she expressed her concern about getting in and out of her place and wanted an alternative route we looked at two possibilities," stated Richens. "One was a lane a guy uses to feed some animals, but that wouldn't work because we would have had to cut down some tress and cross a couple of irrigation ditches. The cost would have been prohibitive. Then she mentioned the canal road behind her house, but there could be some real liability problems for the district if we managed to make that a public access for a few days and someone drove into the canal."

For Feichko said she was further distraught Tuesday when the crews began digging on the lane once again, this time across the road in places.

"This week we are connecting laterals to the main line for the various houses along the lane," noted Richens. "That's why we are digging again. It has been slow going along all of that route because of the water line that we hit once and a gas line that is in the area as well."

Feichko pointed out on Tuesday that she was also concerned about the water line that was struck by the trackhoe because the water pressure in her house hasn't been the same since.

"One of the neighbors was down there when they were fixing it and they told me the workers repair the line just to stop the water from leaking, but that the pipe was still mangled," she explained. "Now we can't take a shower and flush the toilet in the house at the same time."

But Richens looked into that problem on Tuesday night when once again a water line was struck in the digging process and he helped repair the line.

"After we repaired the line I checked on the problem and we looked at the pressure right up to the meter at the house," he asserted. "The pressure was very good up to the meter, so the problem appears to be something other than the main water line."

Richens said that presently there is a high lid on a manhole on the street and that it will be replaced with the right fixture when it comes in. He also said the crews would be done digging on the street this week and should begin hauling gravel in to the previously dirt lane to fix the surface disruption.

"It think once it is done it will be better than we found it," he stated.

But the lane that leads to Feichko's home isn't the only street problem PRWID officials are dealing with. Some residents of Spring Glen, who say they are affected by two small projects and a large north Carbonville project, have voiced concerns, wondering when road repaving will be happening in the areas where lines were completed in late August.

"The main contractor is meeting with their paving subcontractor today about that and we are hoping that pavement will be repaired in the next couple of weeks," noted Richens.

Another project, in the Bawdenville area east of Price is now moving along nicely, according to Richens.

"When we first started the mud was very bad, but in recent days we have moved into much drier areas where we only have to put a little gravel around the line," he stated.

When the contractor is done with the Gardner Lane area in Carbonville and with the Bawdenville line, they will be moving on to put in a new line in south Price to replace a lift station that has been a problem for a number of years and then on to Wellington where two more projects await completion.